Plot Development


Book Description

Do you want to write a stronger story? Would you like to worry less about plot holes and weak characters? Some writers shy away from outlining, believing it their worst nightmare, and state that time is better spent writing a novel than planning it. Then there are those who’ve tried plotting, perhaps more than a few times, only to get lost in the weeds and overwhelmed by frustration. Stories that work all follow a certain structure; you just need to learn how to apply it. Plot Development is a step-by-step guide which will teach you: ● How to decide on the number of characters to include in your novel ● How to make each character come alive with their own wants and needs ● How to choose between different types of outlines ● How to develop engaging events and where to place them within your story ● How to enhance your plot with potent subplots ● How to build chapters, designed to deliver an immersing experience for the reader ● How to review and edit your outline to make it even better ● How to enrich your opening and closing chapters Included are seven bonus chapters, covering important topics like: theme, beta readers, short story plotting, and much more. Additionally, you’ll be able to download an outline template to provide an in-depth guide for your plotting. No more getting lost in those weeds! Plot Development is brought to you by two bestselling authors, who have published more than twenty novels between them. Leverage the power of story structure and take your writing to the next level.




Writing Your Novel from Start to Finish


Book Description

Equip yourself for the novel-writing journey! Starting a novel is exciting, but finishing it--that's the real challenge. The journey from beginning to end is rife with forks in the road and dead ends that lead many writers off course. With Writing Your Novel from Start to Finish: A Guidebook for the Journey, you'll navigate the intricacies of crafting a complex work of fiction and complete the journey with confidence and precision. To maximize your creativity and forward momentum, each chapter offers: • Techniques to break down the elements of the novel--from character-building to plotting and pacing • Mile Markers to anticipate and overcome roadblocks like ineffective dialogue and "the unchanged protagonist" • Guidelines for Going Deeper to explore and implement more nuanced aspects of storytelling, such as finding your voice and the role of theme • Try-It-Out Exercises and 27 interactive worksheets that help elevate your writing. No matter your level of experience or where you are in your project, Writing Your Novel from Start to Finish provides the instruction, inspiration, and guidance you need to complete your journey successfully.




The Reckoning


Book Description

'I couldn't help thinking of Harper Lee's great American novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" while reading The Reckoning . . . [Grisham] knows how to spin a yarn' - Chicago Sun-Times 'May be his greatest work yet' - David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon In his unforgettable new novel, John Grisham tells the story of an unthinkable murder, the bizarre trial that followed it, and its profound and lasting effect on the people of Ford County. Pete Banning was Clanton's favourite son, a returning war hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbour, and a faithful member of the Methodist Church. Then one cool October morning in 1946. he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder wasn't shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete's only statement about it - to the sheriff, to his defense attorney, to the judge, to his family and friends, and to the people of Clanton - was 'I have nothing to say'. And so the murder of the esteemed Reverend Bell became the most mysterious and unforgettable crime Ford County had ever known. Further praise for The Reckoning 'Beautifully constructed . . . weaves a truly magical spell' - Daily Mail 'In this saga of love and war, John Grisham has given us a sprawling and engrossing story about a southern family, a global conflict, and the kinds of secrets that can shape all of us. From the courtrooms and jails of rural Mississippi to the war-torn Pacific, Grisham spins a tale that is at once entertaining and illuminating' - Jon Meacham, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of America 'John Grisham is the master of legal fiction, and his latest starts with a literal bang - and then travels backward through the horrors of war to explore what makes a hero, what makes a villain, and how thin the line between the two might be' - Jodi Picoult, internationally bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things 'When a master of storytelling and suspense takes on one of the most wrenching stories in history, the result is a book that will break your heart, set your blood pumping and your mind racing, and leave you gasping for breath by the final page. I'm still trying to recover from The Reckoning' - Candice Millard, New York Times bestselling author of The River of Doubt and Destiny of the Republic




The Seven Basic Plots


Book Description

This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of 'basic stories' in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it shows that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling. But this is only the prelude to an investigation into how and why we are 'programmed' to imagine stories in these ways, and how they relate to the inmost patterns of human psychology. Drawing on a vast array of examples, from Proust to detective stories, from the Marquis de Sade to E.T., Christopher Booker then leads us through the extraordinary changes in the nature of storytelling over the past 200 years, and why so many stories have 'lost the plot' by losing touch with their underlying archetypal purpose. Booker analyses why evolution has given us the need to tell stories and illustrates how storytelling has provided a uniquely revealing mirror to mankind's psychological development over the past 5000 years. This seminal book opens up in an entirely new way our understanding of the real purpose storytelling plays in our lives, and will be a talking point for years to come.




Rapid Story Development


Book Description

This book offers a unique approach to storytelling, connecting the Enneagram system with classic story principles of character development, plot, and story structure to provide a seven-step methodology to achieve rapid story development. Using the nine core personality styles underlying all human thought, feeling, and action, it provides the tools needed to understand and leverage the Enneagram-Story Connection for writing success. Author Jeff Lyons starts with the basics of the Enneagram system and builds with how to discover and design the critical story structure components of any story, featuring supporting examples of the Enneagram-Story Connection in practice across film, literature and TV. Readers will learn the fundamentals of the Enneagram system and how to utilize it to create multidimensional characters, master premise line development, maintain narrative drive, and create antagonists that are perfectly designed to challenge your protagonist in a way that goes beyond surface action to reveal the dramatic core of any story. Lyons explores the use of the Enneagram as a tool not only for character development, but for story development itself. This is the ideal text for intermediate and advanced level screenwriting and creative writing students, as well as professional screenwriters and novelists looking to get more from their writing process and story structure.




Creative Writing


Book Description

All writers are familiar with terms like plot, suspense, conflict and character. They may be less familiar with intertextuality, anachrony, and fabula, and they may be even less confident in achieving the effects these terms refer to. This book defines fictional techniques and guides the potential writer in their use. It may spark off ideas for stories and novels and provide first-aid for failing stories. A story's ending may come as a surprise to the reader, suspense may have the reader on the edge of the seat, and conflict may lead to unbearable excitement. It is the job of the writer to create these effects and this book illustrates how it is done. The book is for students doing creative writing in higher education, at "A" level, and it will be essential reading for anyone interested in writing fiction. Contents: Definitions of over 200 terms and techniques to do with fiction writing How to achieve fictional effects Literary examples of the techniques described Characteristics of genre as well as literary fiction Basic but essential techniques such as writing dialogue and using figures of speech Definitions of major terms used in publishing




Story Genius


Book Description

Following on the heels of Lisa Cron's breakout first book, Wired for Story, this writing guide reveals how to use cognitive storytelling strategies to build a scene-by-scene blueprint for a riveting story. It’s every novelist’s greatest fear: pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into writing hundreds of pages only to realize that their story has no sense of urgency, no internal logic, and so is a page one rewrite. The prevailing wisdom in the writing community is that there are just two ways around this problem: pantsing (winging it) and plotting (focusing on the external plot). Story coach Lisa Cron has spent her career discovering why these methods don’t work and coming up with a powerful alternative, based on the science behind what our brains are wired to crave in every story we read (and it’s not what you think). In Story Genius Cron takes you, step-by-step, through the creation of a novel from the first glimmer of an idea, to a complete multilayered blueprint—including fully realized scenes—that evolves into a first draft with the authority, richness, and command of a riveting sixth or seventh draft.




Save the Cat!


Book Description

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!




Story Engineering


Book Description

What makes a good story or a screenplay great? The vast majority of writers begin the storytelling process with only a partial understanding where to begin. Some labor their entire lives without ever learning that successful stories are as dependent upon good engineering as they are artistry. But the truth is, unless you are master of the form, function and criteria of successful storytelling, sitting down and pounding out a first draft without planning is an ineffective way to begin. Story Engineering starts with the criteria and the architecture of storytelling, the engineering and design of a story--and uses it as the basis for narrative. The greatest potential of any story is found in the way six specific aspects of storytelling combine and empower each other on the page. When rendered artfully, they become a sum in excess of their parts. You'll learn to wrap your head around the big pictures of storytelling at a professional level through a new approach that shows how to combine these six core competencies which include: • Four elemental competencies of concept, character, theme, and story structure (plot) • Two executional competencies of scene construction and writing voice The true magic of storytelling happens when these six core competencies work together in perfect harmony. And the best part? Anyone can do it!




The Time Traveler's Wife


Book Description

A most untraditional love story, this is the celebrated tale of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who inadvertently travels through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare’s passionate affair endures across a sea of time and captures them in an impossibly romantic trap that tests the strength of fate and basks in the bonds of love. “Niffenegger’s inventive and poignant writing is well worth a trip” (Entertainment Weekly).